Comments:
Luke Skywalker spent a lot of time flying his T-16 skyhopper, a pleasure and utility airspeeder, during his youth on Tatooine. The skyhopper's cockpit is modeled directly after that of the fearsome T-65 X-wing starfighters (they are both manufactured by Incom), which helped Luke during his abrupt transition towards becoming a Rebel pilot capable of handling the high-powered X-wings. Luke's T-16 was a high-end model fitted with a belly-mounted laser cannon and stereoscopic laser sighting device that allowed Skywalker to bullseye womp rats while speeding through Tatooine's Beggar's Canyon at a cool 900 km per hour.

This one-person craft utilizes a standard anti-grav generator for lift and a single ion engine for propulsion. The anti-grav generator has an altitude ceiling in excess of 275 kilometers - high for most airspeeders - and a top speed of 1200 km per hour. As a result of its tri-foil, folding wing arrangement and advanced steering system, the T-16 can make incredibly sharp, high-speed turns and can climb vertically at will.

The cockpit of the T-16 separates entirely from the main body of the craft for easy maintenance of otherwise hard-to-reach instruments. One day while working on the ship, Luke ingeniously decided to fit the detaching cockpit with small repulsors, thrusters and steering vanes to create a fully flyable and highly maneuverable open-air escape craft. Furthermore, he developed a release mechanism which allows the cockpit to be ejected from the main body of the T-16 while still in flight. During this mode, the T-16's bulk can land automatically or sustain its flight by an auto-pilot feature, creating a truly effective escape vehicle.

Points of Interest:

The T-16 Skyhopper was parked in the Lars Homestead garage, but Luke had a model replica of the craft in his workshop.

Many pilots in the Rebel Alliance begin their training by flying a T-16 Skyhopper.